Country:

Ireland

Category:

Anglo-Norman

House of Plantagenet

Angevin

Henry III

Hammered

Notes:

In 1247, Richard (Earl of Cornwall & younger brother to King Henry III) was granted the right to strike new money for a period of 12 years in England, Wales and Ireland, in consideration of a substantial loan he had made to the king.

The agreement gave Richard half of profits of ‘the minting’ and ‘the exchange’

A new design of Long Cross coins were struck in England, commencing 1247

Coins for Ireland were not struck until 1251

Roger de Haverhull was put in charge of the Dublin Mint

Two moneyers’ names appear on the coins “Ricard” and “Davi”

They are likely Richard Bonaventure and David of Enfield

They were both moneyers at the London Mint

It is likely they produced the dies in London and sent them to Dublin, i.e. they operated in absentia

The Dublin Mint appears to have operated from 1251 to 1254

It is likely that all existing coinage in Ireland had been ‘re-coined’

After this, it was no longer profitable to operate a mint in Ireland

Only pennies were minted (no farthings or halfpennies)

Some of Henry III’s Irish pennies have been found cut in half (cut halfpennies) and in quarters (cut farthings) for use as small change

The archaeological evidence suggests that a large proportion of Henry’s Irish coinage was exported to England and France, thus draining the Norman colony in Ireland of its circulating coinage and limiting its economic development

Over 1,600 of Henry III’s Irish pennies were found in a hoard in Brussels in 1908